The FBI concluded this week that Thomas Crooks acted alone trying to kill President Trump at the campaign rally of July 13, 2024, in Butler, Pennsylvania.
The monthslong investigation into the deceased Crooks and his plans to assassinate Mr. Trump concluded with no announced motive.
“We have reviewed this case over and over — looked into every nugget. We have spoken to the families, the president — there is no cover-up here,” FBI Deputy Director Dan Bongino told Fox News Digital on Friday. “There is no motive for it, there is no reason for it.”
The bureau’s director, Kash Patel, told the outlet that the investigation was a “Day One priority” for the bureau.
“Dan and I have been on this since we got here eight months ago. We not only had to maintain the chain of command to President Trump, but we had to remind the world that President Trump was the victim — one of the four victims — on that day,” Mr. Patel said. “There are victims’ rights rules that apply to him, and they don’t get erased because he is the president.”
The director said they briefed the president on the investigation’s findings and Mr. Trump was “satisified with the results and where we left it.”
Another senior official directly involved in the probe told the outlet that the case sits in a “pending, inactive” status and if a credible lead pops up, it will be investigated.
Crooks was identified as the suspect of the attempt. A Secret Service sniper gunned him down after the 20-year-old took his shots from the roof of a building close to the rally.
One attendee, Corey Comperatore, was killed in the Crooks shooting. Two, David Dutch and James Copenhaver, were seriously wounded, and another bullet hit Mr. Trump’s ear.
Mr. Patel slammed former FBI Director Christopher Wray’s handling of the case.
“My predecessor went to Congress and said he didn’t know if it was a bullet that hit President Trump in the head. The whole world knew it was a bullet,” Mr. Patel said. “For the No. 1 law enforcement officer to say that — it causes a massive disbelief in the institution that Dan and I are now running.”
The probe looked into Crooks’ social media and bank accounts and all devices at his home.
Mr. Trump said in July that he was told nothing “abnormal” was found about Crooks.
He called Crooks “just a nutjob looking to do this.”
